Stamping machine



A. SANGLIER -r AL STAMPING MACHINE Fiied Dec. 28. 1932 2Sheets$heet 2 Jul 10, 1934.

Patented July 10, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE STAMPING MACHINE teme Sanglier, Paris,

France Application December 28, 1932, Serial No. 649,166 5 In France December 31, 1931 7 Claims.

The invention relates to stamping machines adapted to impress a stamp, seal, or the like on cheques, letters, and other documents, and it has for its object to provide such machines with safety arrangements adapted to prevent the operator from stamping a document without the operating being recorded by a registering device or meter, and to thereby prevent a fraudulent use of the machine.

More specifically the invention has for its object to provide means for preventing any reciprocation of the stamping member through a distance which would be less than the stroke which is necessary for recording such movement by the meter.

Another object is to provide means for preventing stamping a document by pressing said document against the stamping member when the latter assumes any position except the operative position of said stamping member, close to its backing member.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for detecting undue stamping of a plurality of documents by a single actuation of the machine, corresponding to a single unit recorded by the meter, with the use of carbon papers interposed between the documents to be stamped, such fraudulent operation being detected by the impression of a mark or sign on the documents upon which the stamp is printed by the carbon papers.

Further objects of the invention will be set vforth in the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings, which are given solely by way of example:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the machine, the casing being shown in section.

Fig. 2 is a partial front view or the same machine.

Fig. 3 shows in elevation a gate device for the prevention of frauds by the use of carbon paper.

Fig. 4 is a corresponding plan view of the gate and Fig. 5 is a corresponding end view.

In the form of construction shown in the drawings, the machine comprises a hollow base 1, carrying a {hollow support 2 upon which the various devices of the machine are mounted.

.A lever 3, which is pivoted to support .2, about .a pivot pin 4, carries on the. other side of pivot .pin 4 an appendage 5, to which is pivotedat .6 a rod 7, extending through hollow support '7. To the lower end of said rod .is secured a washer 8 .forming a seat .fora spring 9, secured by screws 10, or the like, within the hollow base of the machine.

To lever 3, which may be operated by a handle 11, is pivoted at 12 a bar 13, provided at its lower part with a stamping member or block 14 to which a stamp 15 is attached.

A forked link 16 is pivoted at one end at 17 to support 2 and at the other end at 18 to bar 13; the distance between the pivot pins 1'7 and 18 is equal to the distance between the pivot pins 4 and 12, and the distance between the pivot pins 4 and 17 is equal to the distance between the pivot pins 12 and 18.

Bar 13, lever 3, link 16 and support 2 thus form a deformable parallelogram, and, as the axesof pivot pins 12 and 18 of the bar are situated in a vertical plane, the deformations of this parallelogram, upon actuation of handle 11, will cause vertical displacements of bar 13 and stamp 15.

To the pivot pins 1'7 are pivoted two arms 19, carrying at their outer ends an inking roller 20, and connected together by a distance rod 22.

A spring 21, attached to rod 22, maintains inking roller 20 in contact with stamp 15.

On the side next support 2, block 14 carries two slightly elastic. strips 23 so arranged as to be engaged by small guide rollers 24 which are mounted at the ends of the .inking'roller 20,

When lever 3 and stamping bar 13 are lowered, this movement causes the pivoting of arms 19, While inking roller 20 is moved over the stamp; when the latter reaches a point near its lowest position, inking roller 20 leaves stamp 15 and rollers 24 engage strips .23, which hold the inking roller away from block 14.

Upon the upper face of base 1 is mounted a backing plate 25, ,for instance of copper, carrye ing a slightly projecting pad 26, upon which the stamp is brought when in its lowermost position. The cheques, letters or other documents to be stamped are placed upon plate 25, and each stroke of lever -3 causes a stamp to be printed thereon.

An arm 28 is constantly urged against the arm 5 of lever 3 by a spring 27, and when lever 3 is lowered, said. arm operates a spindle 29 of a meter device of any conventional construction (not shown), and thus turns said spindle through a certain angle which corresponds to the regis tering of one unit upon the meter. When lever 3 rises under the action of spring 9, arm 28 follows the movement of the arm 5, but without acting upon spindle 29, dueto. the provision of a one- Way connection (not shown).

The mechanismof themeter is contained in a casing 30 which is secured to support 2 by a rod 31, having at its free end an aperture adapted to receive the wire of a lead seal which prevents any fraudulent manipulation of the meter.

Lever 3 is rigidly connected with a sector 32, carryingtwo sets or" ratchet teeth 33, 35, respectively cooperating with pawls 34 and 36, pivoted at 42 to support 2.

At both ends of the set of teeth 33 are deeper notches 37-37, adapted to be engaged bypawl 34 when lever 3 is entirely lowered or raised, respectively. These two notches thus correspond respectively to the upper and the lower positions of the stamp.

Pawl 36 allows the raising of stamp 15 but prevents its lowering when it engages the teeth of set 35.

Springs 38 and 39 (Fig. 2) act respectively upon the pawls 36-34 in order to apply them constantly upon the ratchet sector 32. Pawl 34 carries a stud 40, co-operating with the upper face 41 of pawl 36. Y

The operation is as follows:

Lever 3 being entirely raised (Fig. 1) stamping of a document placed upon backing plate 25 is performed by depressing handle 11. Ratchet sector 32 is thus rotated in the direction of arrow pawl 34, which initially engages notch 37, pivots about its pivot pin 42, and stud 40 moves pawl 36 away from the set of teeth 35. During the whole time of the descent, pawl 34 keeps a position in which it is inclined to the right, thus holding pawl 36 disengaged from ratchet sector 32; if, at any time, an attempt were made to interrupt the descent and to again raise lever 3, the pawl 34 engaged in the teeth 33, and inclined to the right, would prevent such movement.

When lever 3 has beenriully lowered in order to stamp a document, the stroke has been sufficient to operate the meter; lever 3 may then be raised because the end of pawl 34 has entered notch 37, and pawl 34 now assumes a position in which it is inclined to the left. As the lever is being raised from its lower position, the ratchet sector 32 rotates in the direction of the arrow g; since pawl 34 is held inclined to the left by the teeth 33, pawl 36 is released by stud 40 and is urged by spring 38 against the teeth 35; the shape of these teeth is such as to permit movement of the sector in the direction of arrow 9; but if anatternpt is made, after having com- Ineneed to raise lever 3, to lower it again, that is, to move the sector in the direction of arrow f; pawl 36, which engages the teeth 35, will prevent this movement.

Thus, lever 3 can again be lowered provided it has been entirely raised, and the pawl has resumed its place in notch 3'7. I

Due to this arrangement, it will be impossible to, change the direction of motion of the stamp, as long as the stamp has not reached the end of its upward or downward stroke.

In order to prevent pressing a document which is to be stamped against the stamp, when the same assumes an intermediate position, the stamping block 14 is associated with a safety guard consisting of a vertical member 43 integral with a horizontal U-shaped flange 45 and slidable vertically along block 14; said guard is urged downwardly by a spring 44 into the position shown in Fig. 1, wherein the lower edge of flange 45 is at a materially lower level than the engraved face of block 14.

The guard is normally held in this lowered position by a latch 46 pivoted to block 14 about a screw 47 and whose end 48 forms a bolt adapted to engage a corresponding aperture provided in the guard.

Plate 46 has a shoulder 49, adapted to be engaged by a finger pivoted to and connected with an arm 51, rigidly secured to link 16.

When lowering lever 3, finger 50 engages shoulder 49 and rotates plate 46 about screw 47, thus drawing bolt 48 out of the aperture of the guard in such manner that when the lower edge of the guard engages the document to be stamped, overlying backing plate 25, said guard is moved vertically along block 14, against the action of spring 44; except for the lower position of the stamp, the guard is locked to the block with the flange 45 projecting from the stamp, thus preventing stamping of a document, if any attempt were made to press the latter against the stamp by an upward pressure.

When the operator raises lever 3, flange 45 remains in contact with the stamped document, under the action of spring 44, until the block 14 is sufliciently raised, whereupon bolt 48 again comes opposite the aperture of the guard and enters this aperture under the action of spring 52.

As aforesaid, finger 50 is mounted upon arm 51 in a resilient manner, 1. e. by means of a. spring '70, urging said finger in a clockwise direction, against a stop 71 on arm 51. The resilient mounting permits finger 50 to resume the posi tion of Fig. 1 after it has moved past shoulder 49.

The above described device prevents stamping a document which is not placed upon plate 25, in case a person would attempt to stamp without operation of the meter.

In order to prevent slipping successively several documents between the backing plate and the guard with the stamp nearly lowered to its lowermost position, two rods 54 provided with pointed ends 55 are guided in corresponding recesses, provided in block 14, or in bosses arranged on either iis side of this block. Said rods 54 are urged down- Wardly by springs 56, in such manner that their block and by holding the safety guard slightly raised, because the points, which are still engaged in the paper, would prevent the insertion of this further document, and, if an attempt were made to. withdraw the already stamped one, they would tear the same.

The invention also provides means for preventing that two or more documents be arranged upon the backing plate, with interposed sheets of carbon paper, in a fraudulent attempt to reproduce the stamp upon the lower documents. The device provided for this purpose is shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5..

To the backing plate is pivoted at 58 a frame or gate 5'7, normally held in a raised position by a spring-pressed plunger 59, in order to enable the documents to be slipped thereunder. Gate 57 is extended by two prongs carrying small stamping blocks 60 having engraved on their lower face a letter, sign, or mark, for instance the letter F. The position of'said blocks and the spacing of the prongs of gate 57 are such its that, when the stamp is lowered in contact with the plate, the two blocks 60 exactly fit in recesses or grooves 61 of the engraved part of the stamp.

The stamp is also provided with two recesses 62 whose inner end bear upon the prongs of gate 57, when the stamp is lowered, thus lowering the gate. I

The engraved design of the stamp is interrupted adjacent the recesses receiving the blocks 60.

If a person with fraudulent intent should superpose several documents, separating these by carbon paper, it will be readily observed that by this arrangement, the upper document will carry the inked print of the engraved die, whilst the lower documents will'not only show this print, but also that of the two blocks engraved with the letter F. Thus, if a document shows this letter F (or other sign), this indicates that stamping has been performed by fraud.

The whole apparatus is enclosed within a sheet metal casing 72, connected to base 2 by means of a rod, wire or the like '73 and a lead seal 74, to prevent fraudulent removal of said casing. A slot 75 is provided for movement of lever 3 and a slot '76 serves for inserting the documents to be stamped. Said casing prevents access to the safety devices and makes the frauds impossible.

It will be noted that by reason of these various improvements, the machine will operate with absolute safety as concerns all possibility of fraud, and that it will be impossible in any case to proceed with the stamping of a document, without having this stamping recorded on the meter.

Obviously, the form of construction above described is given solely by way of example, and is susceptible of various modifications, without departing from the scope of the invention.

Having now described our invention what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a stamping machine, a stamping block, a backing plate, means for operating said block, a guard carried by said block and adapted to normally project from the printing face of said block, means for locking said guard in said normal position, actuating means associated with said operating means for releasing said locking means and permit retraction of said guard against said backing plate, toward the end of the operative stroke of said stamping block and means for urging said guard toward its normal position.

2. A stamping machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said guard comprises a flange adapted to surround said printing face and to project therefrom in the normal position of said guard.

3. A stamping machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said locking means comprises a latch, pivoted to said block and having a bolt engageable in an aperture of said guard and a shoulder, engageable by said actuating means.

4. A stamping machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said actuating means comprises a finger resiliently pivoted to said operating means and adapted to engage said locking means.

5. In a stamping machine, a stamping block, a backing plate, longitudinal holes in said block and independent spring pressed points guided in said holes and adapted to resiliently project from the printing face of said block.

6. In a stamping machine, a printing block, inking means adapted to ink the printing face of said block, a backing plate and separate stamping means unaffected by said inking means and adapted to be pressed by said block against said backing plate and further comprising a gate for carrying said separate stamping means and pivoted to said backing plate, and means for resiliently holding said gate away from said backing plate.

7. A stamping machine comprising in combination a reciprocable stamping block, operating means therefore, a backing plate, means for selectively locking said operating means and adapted to permit movement in one direction, while looking it against movement in the opposite direction, means operative at both ends of each stroke of said block for reversing the action of said locking means, a spring-pressed guard adapted to normally project from the printing face of said block, latch means for locking said guard in said normal position, means operable by said operating means adjacent the end of the stamping stroke of said block for releasing said latch means and permit retraction of said guard against said backing plate, spring-pressed points guided in said block and projecting from the printing face thereon, means for inking said printing face, separate stamping means unaffected by said inking means and adapted to be pressed by said block against said backing plate, a casing adapted to enclose the above mentioned parts and to prevent access thereto, and having an aperture for the insertion of the documents to be stamped, and means for sealing said casing and preventing fraudulent removal thereof.

ARMAND SANGLIER. RENE SANGLIER. HENRY SANGLIER. 

